Fact File

1876: DARWIN ON CHRISTIANITY

1876: DARWIN ON CHRISTIANITY: In his autobiography Darwin dismissed the Old Testament and the Gospels. He then describes his disbelief in Christianity: “Thus disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate, but was at last complete. The rate was so slow that I felt no distress, and have never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct. I can indeed hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity to be true; for if so the plain language of the text seems to show that the men who do not believe, and this would include my Father, Brother and almost all my best friends, will be everlastingly punished. And this is a damnable doctrine.”
Nora Barlow, ed. The autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809-1882: with original omissions restored. New York, W.W. Norton, 1969, p87

ED. COM. Darwin understood Christianity well. It is about Heaven, and it is also about Hell and eternal judgement. Jesus spoke more on this subject than any other person in Scripture.
Here we see the reason many refuse to consider any evidence for creation and oppose the work of groups like Creation Research so vigorously. Like Darwin, they know that God’s authority and power to decide our ultimate fate rest exclusively on His role as Creator. By denying creation they think they can escape God’s judgement of their own lives. How sad that such people also fail to understand that God’s power and authority as Creator also enables the same God to save us from our rebellion against him and give everlasting life to all those who come in childlike faith and repentance. (John 3:16) (Ref. theistic evolution, Scriptures Genesis, philosophy, world-view)

Darwin’s writings, including several editions of the Origin of Species and his many other books and articles which are available from The Complete Works of Charles Darwin at: http://darwin-online.org.uk